“Your Serene Highness, congratulations again!” the captain said, and he offered a salute instead of bowing. As Alek returned the gesture, he imagined himself for a fleeting moment as a member of the crew. But that dream was over.
“Thank you, sir. For this and…” He shrugged. “For never throwing us into the brig.”
Captain Hobbes smiled. “It was tricky for you in those first days, wasn’t it? And a bit strange for us, having Clankers on the ship.”
“But I always knew we’d make a proper Darwinist of you in the end,” Dr. Barlow said, staring pointedly at Alek’s medal.
He had been awarded the Air Gallantry Cross, the highest honor the British armed services could give a civilian, and right there on its face was a portrait of old Charles Darwin himself.
“A proper Darwinist,” the lady boffin’s loris said, and Bovril chuckled.
“I’m not sure what I am, these days,” Alek admitted. “But I shall try to live up to this honor.”
“A fine watchword in these strange times, Your Highness,” the captain said. “If you’ll excuse me, I must attend to our American guests. Their Clanker airships will be joining us on our way back to Europe. Most extraordinary.”
“It certainly is.” Alek bowed as the man strode away toward a clump of officers in dark American blue.
“How quickly things have turned,” Dr. Barlow said. “The Ottomans remain neutral, Austria-Hungary is looking for a way out, and now the United States has joined the fray. Tesla may not have ended the war, but his death seems to have shortened it considerably.”
“Let us hope so,” Alek managed to say, and he looked about for a way to change the subject.
“Klopp!” said Bovril.
“Ah, yes.” Alek waved his men over. “Master Klopp, Bauer, and Hoffman have left my service. They’ll be staying here in America.”
“The land of opportunity,” the lady boffin said in excellent German.
Klopp nodded. “And the only place in the Clanker world that won’t call us traitors and plotters, madam.”
“That’s only for the moment, Master Klopp,” Alek said. “We’ll all get home someday, I’m sure.” The three men still looked odd to him in their civilian suits and ties, but they would be back in coveralls soon enough. “They’re starting work Monday for a manufacturer of passenger walkers.”
“Mightn’t that be a bit boring?” the lady boffin asked. “After months of gallivanting about with your young prince?”
“Not at all boring, madam,” Bauer said. “Mr. Ford pays five dollars a day!”
Dr. Barlow’s eyes widened. “How extraordinary.”
Alek smiled. He’d tried to give Klopp the rest of his father’s gold, but the man hadn’t taken it. In any case, the toothpick weighed less than twenty grams, no more than fifteen dollars’ worth. Working for Ford Walkers, the three of them together would make that every day.
“Land of opportunity,” the lady boffin’s loris said with a sniff. The creature’s German accent was also excellent.
“Where is your Count Volger?” Dr. Barlow said. “I’ve saved a number of periodicals for him.”
“He’s here somewhere.” Alek looked about, and saw Volger skulking in a dark corner of the cargo bay. His eyebrows had been burnt off when Tesla’s bolt of lightning had struck their swords, making his expression resemble a madman’s in a motion picture show.
Or perhaps he was simply in one of his moods. When Alek had told his men to make new lives here in America, only Volger had resisted. The man had vowed to work for Alek’s elevation to the throne of Austria- Hungary, whether Alek wanted him to or not.
But when Dr. Barlow went to the wildcount, his expression softened, and soon they were talking intently together in the privacy of the corner.
“Perhaps I’m speaking out of turn, sir,” Hoffman said, looking at them. “But they are an odd pair, aren’t they?”
Klopp snorted a laugh. “Quite suited to each other.”
“You know what I’ve always thought, sir?” Bauer said. “That this war’s been as good as over since they wound up on the same side!”
“Plotters,” Bovril whispered into Alek’s ear.
It took another hour for Alek to extract himself from all the well-wishers and interview-seekers, and to maneuver out of the cargo bay and into a smaller storeroom he’d seen Deryn make a quiet exit toward. She was still there waiting, sitting on a barrel of honey from the
It was the first time Alek and Bovril had seen her since they’d said good-bye at the Serbian consulate, and the beastie practically threw itself into her arms. Alek wished he could as well, but the crowded cargo bay was on the other side of an unlocked hatch. Instead he only nodded, wondering how to start.
He had expected it to be years before they met again, but even three weeks had seemed so long. He couldn’t say any of that, though, not yet.
She was staring at his medal as she stroked Bovril’s head. It was, of course, the same decoration that Deryn wore on her own dress uniform, and that her father had earned for saving her life.
“A bit daft,” she finally said. “Getting a medal for falling down.”
He swallowed. “I don’t really deserve it, do I?”
“You deserve a
“You were there for all of those, Deryn, and I don’t see medals filling up your…” He cleared his throat and glanced away.
“Chest!” Bovril said.
Deryn laughed aloud at that, but Alek didn’t join her.
“I’m happy with just the one, thanks,” she said. “And I wasn’t beside you when you stopped Goliath.”
“In a way you were,” he said softly, staring at the floor. Only the fact that he’d been saving her had made pulling that trigger possible.
Deryn smiled and shook her head. “You never did recover from that knock to your head, did you?”
“A bit daft!” said Bovril.
“Maybe not. A lot of things have been a bit fuzzy since then.” Alek looked up at her. “Of course, other things have gotten clearer.”
Bovril chuckled at this, but Deryn looked away. A silence stretched out, and Alek wondered if it would always be like this between them now, halting and uncertain.
“There’s something I should tell you,” he said. “A secret about Tesla.”
Deryn’s eyes widened. “Blisters.”
“Somewhere more private,” Alek said, then wondered if he were only stalling. But suddenly he knew where he wanted to go. “I know I’m not serving on this ship, Mr. Sharp, but do you suppose they’d let me go topside one last time?”
“If you’re escorted by a decorated officer, maybe.” A grin spread across Deryn’s face. “And I suppose it’s time for me to try the ratlines.”
“Your knee’s still hurt? But your cane…” The first time he’d spotted her in the crowd, Alek had noticed she wasn’t carrying it.
“It’s much better, thank you. I’m still resting it, is all, and I’m forgetting all my knots!” She shrugged. “But if you don’t mind climbing in your fancy clothes, I’m game to give it a try.”
FORTY-THREE
